8:45 am: Looking around for his new students, Ted (yes, writing in 3rd person) notices children pointing and saying, “Seventh grade.” Sadly, no one approaches.
8:52: Still no seventh graders. Perhaps it’s the sign. It took thirty seconds to make…and looks it. Not even a dowel (stick) to hold it up.
8:55: Students arrive in the following order:
8:55 – Tehya
8:55 – Fernando (Fernando then notices he should be in the high school camp and leaves.)
8:56 – Kyle
8:56 – Shannon
8:57 – Calvin
8:59 – Luz
9:00 – Brandon
9:01 – Diego
9:01 – Melissa
Around 8:56 above, Tehya kindly takes the pathetic sign from Ted and holds it up. Ted believes this is why students start showing up.
At 9:04 we work out that so many of the students know each other from school. Tehya and Shannon go to Baldwin Middle School. Kyle, Luz, Diego and Melissa all go to Repetto Middle School. Surprisingly, with all these connections, the group is quiet. It is, after all, the first day, with all its uncertainties.
Calvin goes to South Pasadena Middle School, and Ted remarks about all the construction going on there.
At 9:10 the tweens – including some stragglers from other grades – head up and meet Ravyn, who later said she was waiting for the group at the room. Her father, she says, graduated from CSULA and wanted to ‘show off’ his knowledge of the campus. (Go him!)
In reverse order, students pick up their composition books. They can choose from bright yellow or black. The black ones are more popular and several yellow ones remain. What does this say about the culture of our classroom?
Students spread out evenly throughout the classroom except for three pals (who chatted intermittently yet innocently as Ted taught throughout the morning): Kyle, Brandon, and Diego.
9:20 – Name Game Intro: Ted asked students to create a Table of Contents and number their comp books up to at least page 10. He then asked students to create an alliteration or rhyme for their name. It became clear that students weren’t too sure what alliteration was so he explained it as “Words [starting] with the same consonant sounds.”
Ted used Rhymezone.com to help Brandon, Melissa, Shannon, Calvin, and Ravyn find rhymes for their names.
Ted’s happiness at playing with all the technology (i.e. document camera, laptop, projector, PC, his iPhone 4) is quickly quashed by Luz’s negative remarks about Macs. The reason for her “computerist” remarks are not clear as of yet.
Bonus points (personal and for Hogwarts houses) were given out for answers. Some questioned the value of the points.
9:50: Morning Pages: We wrote for ten minutes. Ted danced as his phone marked the end of writing. Students did not appear to be impressed.
10:00: Morning Pages Share: No one volunteered to share, so Ted read lines about the nervousness of the first day. Ravyn volunteered (hooray!). Luz, Shannon, Calvin also shared.
10:15: Echo Poetry: “Where I’m From”
Echo Sharing:
Ravyn and Shannon
Tehya liked Ravyn’s line about stuffed animals; turns out, she started the same way.
Melissa and Kyle
Ted introduces juxtaposition.
10:50 Carolyn, the head of the program, pops in her head and asks the class, “You guys having fun?”
Class response: “Hmmpf.”
11:00 Break!!!
Apparently Brandon the Bad, Kyle, and Diego made money by searching (kicking?) the vending machines.
11:30-12:30 Ted introduced the wiki and a little information about the blues assignment. Apparently we are a musically talented group.
Tehya: acoustic guitar
Kyle: cello, piano, bass, drums, “a little” guitar
Shannon: viola, oboe, and piano
Diego: bass, acoustic guitar
Melissa: bells (which apparently means xylophone-ish instruments)
Ravyn: bells as wells.
Luz: piano and violin
12:30 We leave 1016.
12:31 Ted runs back to grab the sign-out sheet.
8:45 am: Looking around for his new students, Ted (yes, writing in 3rd person) notices children pointing and saying, “Seventh grade.” Sadly, no one approaches.
8:52: Still no seventh graders. Perhaps it’s the sign. It took thirty seconds to make…and looks it. Not even a dowel (stick) to hold it up.
8:55: Students arrive in the following order:
Around 8:56 above, Tehya kindly takes the pathetic sign from Ted and holds it up. Ted believes this is why students start showing up.
At 9:04 we work out that so many of the students know each other from school. Tehya and Shannon go to Baldwin Middle School. Kyle, Luz, Diego and Melissa all go to Repetto Middle School. Surprisingly, with all these connections, the group is quiet. It is, after all, the first day, with all its uncertainties.
Calvin goes to South Pasadena Middle School, and Ted remarks about all the construction going on there.
At 9:10 the tweens – including some stragglers from other grades – head up and meet Ravyn, who later said she was waiting for the group at the room. Her father, she says, graduated from CSULA and wanted to ‘show off’ his knowledge of the campus. (Go him!)
In reverse order, students pick up their composition books. They can choose from bright yellow or black. The black ones are more popular and several yellow ones remain. What does this say about the culture of our classroom?
Students spread out evenly throughout the classroom except for three pals (who chatted intermittently yet innocently as Ted taught throughout the morning): Kyle, Brandon, and Diego.
9:20 – Name Game Intro: Ted asked students to create a Table of Contents and number their comp books up to at least page 10. He then asked students to create an alliteration or rhyme for their name. It became clear that students weren’t too sure what alliteration was so he explained it as “Words [starting] with the same consonant sounds.”
Ted used Rhymezone.com to help Brandon, Melissa, Shannon, Calvin, and Ravyn find rhymes for their names.
Ted’s happiness at playing with all the technology (i.e. document camera, laptop, projector, PC, his iPhone 4) is quickly quashed by Luz’s negative remarks about Macs. The reason for her “computerist” remarks are not clear as of yet.
Then we played “The Name Game.” Click here to read “The Charge of Room 1016”
Bonus points (personal and for Hogwarts houses) were given out for answers. Some questioned the value of the points.
9:50: Morning Pages: We wrote for ten minutes. Ted danced as his phone marked the end of writing. Students did not appear to be impressed.
10:00: Morning Pages Share: No one volunteered to share, so Ted read lines about the nervousness of the first day. Ravyn volunteered (hooray!). Luz, Shannon, Calvin also shared.
10:15: Echo Poetry: “Where I’m From”
Echo Sharing:
Ravyn and Shannon
Tehya liked Ravyn’s line about stuffed animals; turns out, she started the same way.
Melissa and Kyle
Ted introduces juxtaposition.
10:50 Carolyn, the head of the program, pops in her head and asks the class, “You guys having fun?”
Class response: “Hmmpf.”
11:00 Break!!!
Apparently Brandon the Bad, Kyle, and Diego made money by searching (kicking?) the vending machines.
11:30-12:30 Ted introduced the wiki and a little information about the blues assignment. Apparently we are a musically talented group.
Tehya: acoustic guitar
Kyle: cello, piano, bass, drums, “a little” guitar
Shannon: viola, oboe, and piano
Diego: bass, acoustic guitar
Melissa: bells (which apparently means xylophone-ish instruments)
Ravyn: bells as wells.
Luz: piano and violin
12:30 We leave 1016.
12:31 Ted runs back to grab the sign-out sheet.